MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Denny Hamlin hopes he can be the third consecutive spoiler during the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Drivers not in the Chase — Brad Keselowski and Jamie McMurray — have won the last two races. Hamlin, another non-Chase driver, will start from the pole Sunday in the Goody’s Headache Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

1. Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota — Typically a threat to win at Martinsville. Coming into the weekend was considered a dark horse. Now that he’s on the pole, considered a threat to win. Why? This is a race where they’re not testing for 2014.

2. Jimmie Johnson, Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet — So relaxed, he ran 20.1 miles on foot on Thursday. That would be just more than 38 laps around the Martinsville track. And there’s more: He’s relaxed even though he’s surrounded by JGR drivers for start of race.

3. Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota — Don’t count him out of the title hunt just yet. He needs Kenseth and Johnson to slip, but he could be there to pounce. He obviously has a strong car starting third.

4. Matt Kenseth, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota — Jokingly texted Johnson not to ask him for advice this weekend. The joke could be on Kenseth at the end of the weekend if he loses several spots to Johnson but at least he has him in his sights to start the race.

5. Clint Bowyer, Michael Waltrip Racing No. 15 Toyota — Was excited at test earlier this week at Texas when someone brought fried chicken from a local hotspot Babes for lunch. Not sure that a Martinsville hot dog will create the same excitement.

7. Jamie McMurray, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing No. 1 Chevrolet — He has the trophy from Talladega and is 14th in the standings. That’s about as good as a driver not in the Chase can be heading into Martinsville.

8. David Ragan, Front Row Motorsports No. 34 Ford — It wasn’t a win but he did finish sixth at Talladega last week. And his top-10 qualifying spot shows continual improvement and speed for this team.

9. Jeff Gordon, Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet — The 14th at Talladega didn’t help as Gordon clings to a top-five spot in the standings. He needs to win. He’s won seven times at Martinsville.

10. Kevin Harvick, Richard Childress Racing No. 29 Chevrolet — Quietly sticking around to try to make some noise here in the final month of the season. He’s good at making noise at Martinsville — remember when he passed Earnhardt Jr. for the win in 2011?

11. Brad Keselowski, Penske Racing No. 2 Ford — Wants to win the grandfather clock this weekend. Bet if he wins, he gets one that chimes loud. Keselowski chimed in loudly on the new NASCAR concussion baseline testing rule this weekend.

12. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet — Was 24th at Martinsville in April but don’t count him out if he has confidence in his car. He needs to get it a little better for Sunday.

13. Juan Pablo Montoya, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet — Decent starting spot shows Montoya hasn’t given up on the season as he is set to move to IndyCar next year.

14. Carl Edwards, Roush Fenway Racing No. 99 Ford — Co-star of Sara Evans video for “Slow Me Down.” … a weird title for a song for a driver to star in. Plans on not slowing down Sunday.

15. Martin Truex Jr., Michael Waltrip Racing No. 56 Toyota — Martinsville can be a frustrating track. Considering the last seven weeks, he certainly could take any additional frustration in stride.

16. Marcos Ambrose, Richard Petty Motorsports No. 9 Ford — First top-10 at this track was in April so hoping he can improve on that eighth-place finish.

17. Ryan Newman, Stewart-Haas Racing No. 39 Chevrolet — Newman has six top-10s in last eight starts. The person outside his family happiest about that might be Richard Childress, who gets Newman in his stable next year.

18. Aric Almirola, Richard Petty Motorsports No. 41 Ford — Running the No. 41 in honor of Maurice “The Chief” Petty being inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame next January. Petty, known for his prowess building engines, drove the No. 41 in 26 races from 1960-64.

19. Kurt Busch, Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Chevrolet — There won’t be a miracle championship for this team but Busch still gives them a chance for a win the last four weeks. Qualifying 19th, though, makes him a longshot for Sunday.

20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Roush Fenway Racing No. 17 Ford — Hoping to build on career-best finish of third last week at Talladega. Hitting the wall in practice wasn’t the way to do that.

21. Mark Martin, Stewart-Haas Racing No. 14 Chevrolet — For a guy who planned on skipping Martinsville this year, he has found his way to the track. In April, he substituted for Denny Hamlin. Now he’s substituting for Tony Stewart.

22. Jeff Burton, Richard Childress Racing No. 31 Chevrolet — One top-10 in the last nine races as Burton tries to end his RCR tenure on a good note.

23. Paul Menard, Richard Childress Racing No. 27 Chevrolet — Has never had a top-10 at Martinsville. Not looking good for a historic day Sunday.

24. Landon Cassill, Mike Hillman Racing No. 40 Chevrolet — Made it in time for practice but was worried about it after being stuck in Charlotte traffic at the start of the 2-hour trek.

25. Kasey Kahne, Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 Chevrolet — The only good thing about being out of championship contention is that Kahne is not good at Martinsville (19.8 average finish).

26. Kyle Larson, Phoenix Racing No. 51 Chevrolet — Larson makes his second career Cup start, which comes at a tough track that is even tougher if mired in the middle or the back of the pack. Good luck.

27. David Gilliiland, Front Row Motorsports No. 38 Ford — Was seventh last week at Talladega for his second top-10 of the season — the other being the second at Talladega earlier this year.

28. Casey Mears, Germain Racing No. 13 Ford — Likely just hoping for a top-20 considering his he has only three of those in last eight starts at the track.

29. Dave Blaney, Tommy Baldwin Racing No. 7 Chevrolet — Probably expects a long day running in the back half of the pack, which isn’t a fun time at Martinsville.

30. Cole Whitt, Swan Racing No. 30 Toyota — Still looking for first lead-lap finish as he makes his sixth start for the team.

31. Josh Wise, Front Row Motorsports No. 35 Ford — Not only is he racing every week, he’s training for a triathlon later this year.

34. Bobby Labonte, JTG Daugherty Racing No. 47 Toyota — Three races left with this team as AJ Allmendinger is scheduled to run at Homestead.

35. Elliott Sadler, Michael Waltrip Racing No. 55 Toyota — Sadler fills in for Vickers for the final four races. Vickers, on blood thinners because of the recurrence of blood clots that sidelined him in 2010, expects to come to race Sunday.

39. Tony Raines, Mike Hillman Racing No. 33 Chevrolet — Raines and Cassill working to get both this car and the No. 40 car enough points in case they need it next year to get into the Daytona 500.

40. Joe Nemechek, Nemco-JRR No. 87 Toyota — Nemechek has one top-10 in 36 career starts at Martinsville. Not his best track.

41. Danica Patrick, Stewart-Haas Racing No. 10 Chevrolet — In her no-rhyme-nor-reason type season, she was 12th (while starting in the back) in her Martinsville debut in April. She’s been so unpredictable, though, don’t necessarily expect a repeat. Oh, and she smacked the wall in practice and will be racing a backup car.